Wednesday, 9 May 2007

Survival of the most cowardly...

Winding down the paradise bit of our trip, we are happily ensconced in a beach/pool/walking-to-the-bottle-shop routine... for two more days.

Latest revelation: people who are afraid of sharks are smart, because those things can eat you. Not really a revelation to me, but I think it's a self-preservation thing, not a cowardice thing.

Speaking of cowardice, I actually was "brave" enough to be coerced into snorkelling, then scuba-ing, out in the middle of nowhere, on the edge of the reef. Brave, of course, means that I only sat on the edge of the dive platform for 20 minutes, crying, before getting into the water with an instructor. I think it's one of those things that I can tick off my to-do-before-I-die list, and never do it again.

The Great Barrier Reef is stunningly beautiful, both from the bird's eye snorkel view, and up close, in the 3D scuba environment. Peaceful and diverse, full of thousands of different fish (lots of Nemos), corally things, anemone things, clams, etc. Oh, and at least one shark. And a freakin' giant cod named Daisy who really liked me (but both occasions entailed me hyperventilating and being held still by the scuba instructor...not brave, not proud of myself for doing it).